"Is that something you're concerned about, being a public figure, and this is a story that may be exposed in a way that you don't want it to be exposed?"

Catherine Keener is a troubled mother in The Hollywood Reporter’s exclusive clip of Unless, Alan Gilsenan's adaptation of late Canadian novelist Carol Shields' final book.

The Oscar nominee plays a writer whose bright and capable daughter (Hannah Gross) inexplicably drops out of college and lands on a Toronto street corner, panhandling and speechless.

"Your daughter is living on the street," says Brendan Coyle in the clip. "Is that something you're concerned about, being a public figure, and this is a story that may be exposed in a way that you don't want it to be exposed? You know, the famous author and the homeless child...? "

The interview question pushes Keener too far, leading her to walk out soon after.

Written by Gilsenan and also starring Matt Craven, Unless will make its world premiere at TIFF. Gersh is handling sales.